texas two step

Well, we are back from our trip to Austin and Houston to see Laura, Matt and Danielle which was full of drama, as usual when I travel with Bill. We left on 12/21, but the drama started the day before when I couldn't find his identification card. I tore the house up before I finally told myself to take a breath and figure out another solution, as there was no way I was going to be able to find the darn thing. He has not used it since we went to Texas in April and I have no idea where it is. The lady from American Airlines told us to take any identification we had, so I ended up with his 25 year old expired passport, his birth certificate and a Kaiser card.

The next day, we drove to Palm Springs Airport (another new experience - nice little airport, like Ontario used to be)and they just said that he would get extra checking, which he has to do anyway since he can't walk through the metal detector. Other than that it went well, they put us on the bulk head and we rode in first class by ourselves from Dallas to Austin (big whoop, 35 minutes). When we got to Austin it was freezing cold, about 35 degrees and stayed that way until Tuesday. Laura and I went to the Christmas lunch at her new job at the hospital and I enjoyed meeting her co-workers who are all social workers, so we all had something to talk about. Nice bunch of people. She is now working in a hospital (medical social work) and is really enjoying it - she feels like she is using her education now - always a good feeling.

Tuesday she worked, so Bill and I drove on down to Houston so I could help Danielle get ready for Christmas. By the time we got there it was clear and warm, about 65 degrees and stayed nice until Saturday. She and I shopped for everyone (I didn't take any presents except two candles for Laura and Danielle), wrapped everything, decorated the house and made a centerpiece with some antique silver from Danielle's grandma, bought a tree and decorated it, filled the refrigerator, planned Christmas dinner and cooked enchiladas, chile and corn bread in the space about about 36 hours. Talk about a power Christmas! Honestly, I rather enjoyed it as I had only done some shopping for folks in my office up to that point. Laura came down the 24th. Otherwise, we watched movies (Fred Claus and Tropic Thunder), played Scrabble and the kids resurrected the FAMTASTEX rock band -- Laura has discovered that she does VERY well on drums, something she hadn't tried before. Matt has always been the drummer and Danielle and Laura take turns doing the vocals. Everybody takes turns on guitar. It's really fun to watch, as I am waaayyy too klutzy to actually participate. Hand-eye coordination? -- not so much!! The Scrabble games are always fun as we are all pretty evenly matched except for Matt who cheats! (Not really, he is just really good at it...)

Christmas we ate quiche and panneton, opened presents and just generally enjoyed the day. Matt said it was the best Christmas he had had in years. It was just good to be together. Dinner was a joint effort - Danielle made some great gouda-laced mashed potatoes, I made the Texera broccoli, Laura did the stuffed mushrooms, and Matt made a tenderloin roast with a spicy crab salad (wow!). What a dinner. It was really nice and relaxed since nobody was slaving in the kitchen. Pumpkin pie later followed by a chaser of whipped cream directly into the mouth....

Bill did ok, although there were a few issues with accessibility at both Laura's and Matt's houses -- nothing that couldn't be overcome, however. He really enjoyed the trip and was willing to accept some inconveniences.